


Anamnesis

by candyquasar



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Episode: s01e02 Deep Throat, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Post-government memory tampering, Queerplatonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-07 21:08:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4277988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candyquasar/pseuds/candyquasar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anamnesis: an·am·ne·sis /ˌanəmˈnēsis/1) recollection, in particular. 2 ) the remembering of things from a supposed previous existence (often used with reference to Platonic philosophy). 3) MEDICINE a patient's account of a medical history.</p><p>In which Mulder is drugged and confused, and Scully tries to help him recollect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anamnesis

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you to tumblr user danascuully for editing this and showing me X Files. I just couldn't get the possibilities of what happens to Mulder between the car scene and when they show up at the woman's front door out of my mind... [Disclaimer: neither of us are doctors]

The gate opens with a rattle as the car pulls up and as soon as it stops, Mulder steps out. He staggers forward, and Scully ushers Mossinger out of the car with her gun drawn. Mulder stands, watching, he seems uncertain as to what’s going on as he stops and stares.

“Get in the car, Mulder.” Scully calls, and when he doesn’t react, she repeats herself, her tone sharper. Mulder turns to take one last look back at the base before complying, shuffling forward as Mossinger strides, stopping him halfway. His words seem to fly over Mulder’s head as he turns and makes his way to Scully’s car. She keeps the gun trained in Mossinger’s direction, but the second Mulder’s in the car she slams the gas and speeds away.  
She turns to him, relieved that she finally has him back but there’s...something wrong.

“Are you okay?” There’s definitely something up, as he takes a minute to think before he looks to her.

“I think so…Scully I…” He pauses, glancing from her to the dashboard of the car.

“What?” Scully looks at the road and back at him, worried now.

“How...did i get here?” There’s confusion and fear wrapped in his tone as he looks at her, and her grip tightens on the steering wheel. She tries to keep her eyes on the road but she can’t stop looking back at him. Taking note of his staggered breaths, she attempts to take note of other symptoms _can’t very well check for dilated pupils when **driving a car.**_ She tries to explain, as simply as she can, what happened and what she knows, and he watches her, but doesn’t appear to be absorbing what she’s saying. He looks down at himself in confusion, and occasionally at the road ahead. She makes attempts to talk about what happened or the case but he doesn’t engage her, he doesn’t even glance in her direction.

“Mulder.” Nothing. “Mulder?” Quickly, she tries to think of possible treatments for--for whatever he’s experiencing. Mind control? Whatever brain scrambling nonsense he was talking about before? For once she wished he would start talking, rambling about his ridiculous theories and maybe tell her how to fix it, cure it- if that’s what it is... _which it’s probably not_. No… no. Head trauma? He could have fought them and gotten hurt… or maybe drugged? She glances at him again and he’s open-mouthed, staring glassy-eyed at a spot on the dashboard. She sits anxiously in silence for the rest of the trip back to the motel, running every possibility - and how to deal with it- through her head while she taps on the steering wheel and he stares blankly at nothing.

Scully pulls into the parking space and looks over at Mulder again. He hasn’t moved, and probably hasn’t recognized that they’ve stopped. She tugs on his jacket sleeve but he doesn’t acknowledge it.

“Mulder?” She tries again, but to no avail. As she gets out of the car she tucks her gun into the small of her back and the keys into her pocket. When she opens the passenger door she utters his name softly and puts a hand on his shoulder. His gaze shifts, but not to her, and she lets out breath, realizing she’s going to have to carry him.

“Mulder, I’m going to bring you inside, alright?” She moves his legs and hooks an arm under his, hefting him out of the car. She leans dangerously to the side as all his weight rests on her. She puffs out a breath, pushing against him to keep either of them from falling. She narrates their trek to him, unsure if any of it was getting through to him, but she does so anyway. She continues to do so when they get inside - _hold on Mulder I’m closing the door, alright a few more steps_ \- she tries her hardest not to completely drop him onto the couch _alright just...just sit tight_ and searches for the first aid kit in case she needs it. When she finds it, she snatches it up and goes immediately to Mulder’s side.  
Scully places her hand on his forehead, taking a quick note of his pallor. He’s warm, but not quite enough to warrant a fever. She pulls his jacket down around his elbows, tugging it off of him and setting it aside. Wiping her hands on its sleeve, she turns to grab the small flashlight from the first-aid box. She flicks it on, placing her hand on his head and watching his pupils for some sign of reactivity as she darts the beam across his face. They remain dilated, suggesting the presence of a sedative or stimulant -- _sedative._ Thoughts of head trauma or injury dart through her mind and she looks for signs of bruising or bleeding and finds none. Furrowing her brow, she turns his head, shining the light in his ear.

“Oh, Mulder….” she sighs, clicking the light off as she places it gingerly back in the box. As she turns to face him once more, he’s turned his head to look at her. He holds her gaze, his hazel eyes following her when she moves to check if he’s really tracking her. His glassy pupils are still blown wide but at least he was showing signs of alertness. She sighs, somewhat relieved, and cautions a soft _Mulder?_ He appears more alert, but perhaps not entirely cognizant, as he holds her gaze but doesn’t respond or react beyond a expression riddled with confusion.

Scully doesn’t bother to try to ask him questions, knowing he won’t answer but she believes it wouldn’t...it wouldn’t hurt to talk to him. She remembers him in the car, with an uncertain _How...did i get here?_ and makes up her mind to remind him. She meets his eyes again.

“Mulder, you’re…” She pauses, thinking. It wouldn’t hurt to start from the beginning, just in case. “ Your name is Fox Mulder… and I’m Dana Scully, we’re both FBI agents working for the X-Files subdivision. I was recently assigned to be your partner and we were investigating the Robert Budahas case.” She stops, and she can see recognition in his face, and she pulls in a breath to continue.

“You were taken into custody after sneaking onto an undisclosed air force base. They... released you when I traded Paul Mossinger for you, and we’re back at the motel we were staying at. I drove us here. I do not know what happened to you while you were in their custody… but I suspect you have been drugged. With what, I also don’t know.”  
She watches uncertainly as his face blanks, replacing his expression with a look of confusion identical to when he first looked at her. He sees her again, eyes narrowed and a _Scully?_ hanging in the air, though he hasn’t spoken. She has a feeling that everything she said has been blown away in the wind, that he doesn’t remember it. So, even if that’s not the case, she starts again.

She’s worried, when he does it again, but remains patient with him. She tells him it again, going into a little more detail about the case and what’s happened because he seems more rapt, and it takes longer for him to… reset? But she’s relieved, when he does this the third time. The squint, the uncertainty, but this time the _Scully?_ doesn’t hang in the air, it’s a weak whisper across his lips. Scully smiles, relieved that he’s finally speaking. Even if this means he doesn’t remember her sitting with him for the last few hours, telling him the same story multiple times. She nods.

“Yes, Mulder, it’s me.” She starts the story again. When she wants to ask a question she keeps it to yes or no to make it easier on him, as he doesn’t seem to have the capacity to speak at length. She asks him if he remembers how he got here, if he knows where here is. He doesn’t, so she tells him. He remembers who he is, who she is, and she reminds him of the case and why they’re in Idaho. She notices that while he’s improved by speaking, he’s missing pieces of the conversation. He’ll blank mid sentence and comes back halfway into the next topic.

“Mulder, are you okay?” she asks, knowing the answer. He mumbles a barely audible _no_. “Do I need to repeat myself?” _Yes._ And so she’ll start from where he was visibly lost.  
But he’s losing her. Scully just completely switched topics mid sentence, but Scully doesn’t do that what did she say? and his thoughts are a silent cacophony. Anxiety and empty memories that should be filled weave through his mind. He remembers she told him how he got here but he doesn’t remember it himself, he knows he can move but he doesn’t know how. He remembers who he is and who she is and his job clear and crisp. The case and Idaho… the memories are fuzzy around the edges but he hits a brick wall where he presumes he must have snuck onto the base like she said. He can’t understand and he can’t move and he can’t remember and he’s scared.

He’s shaking, his face frozen in terror of the unknown and Scully has stopped talking. She can see how agitated he is, that he’s trying to say something. He tries to say it but its nothing more than slurred, distraught noises and she lays a hand on his shoulder. She gently asks him if he can repeat himself and he can’t make up the words to express himself quite more than a frightened, shaking, and slurred, “ ** _but I don’t remember._** ”

Scully carefully, watching his expression, draws him into a hug and holds him. She assures him that it’s alright as he shakes in her arms. She rubs circles into his back as he slowly moves his arms to hug her.

“ _I’m so sorry Mulder,_ ” She whispers, “ _I promise to keep telling you how it happened until you do...do remember. And...for the parts I don’t know, well...we’ll figure it out._

And so she starts again.


End file.
